Shaun White and Kelly Clark win Halfpipe at Burton US Open

Shaun White and Kelly Clark win the Halfpipe at the Burton US Open at Vail Colorado

Words: Hondo

Holy crap! The Burton US Open halfpipe finals went off today. Today, March second was sunny, warm, and to top it off the riders were absolutely crushing it. The day started with the guys. Man, watching the guys ride the pipe is pretty awesome. It’s pretty spine chilling seeing dudes do methods that are more than double head high. A method is such a timeless trick. The best method of the day has to go to Christian Haller. His method is unreal.

Other standouts from the pipe were Ryo Aono‘s sick frontside spins with melon grabs, Scotty Lago grabbing truck driver, and Taku Hiraoka‘s backside 540 Japan grab. They were all so sick, but they didn’t make the podium. Louie Vito on the other did make the podium. He landed in third place, and he was going higher than we’d ever seen him go before. Ayumu Hirano ended up in second place. This 14 year old phenom is the future of halfpipe snowboarding. He has epic style and he goes so damn high. He was super close to taking the win, and we have a feeling he won’t be sitting in second place for too much longer. Want to know who won? Well if you read the title of this post you know that Shaun White is your 31st annual Burton US Open halfpipe champion. He rips. Haters can can, but Shaun White can ride a halfpipe. His airs are huge and he did one of the craziest 1260′s.

After the guys went, it was time for the ladies, and they didn’t disappoint. Kaitlyn Farrington‘s first hit backside 900 is awesome, and she even did a backside 1080. But it didn’t put her on the podium. Arielle Gold did make the podium however thanks to her timeless style. She ended up in third place. Hannah Teeter snagged second place, and Kelly Clark picked up her six US Open win, that’s the most US Open wins of all time.

This contest ruled. Sure the US Open isn’t at Stratton anymore, but you know what, things change. And we have to say that this change was pretty sick. Vail and Burton put together an amazing event, and we can’t wait to come back next year